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Only Fools And Horses in 1985
1985 saw the transmission of the 4th series o f Only Fools And Horses plus the shows first ever feature length episode, To Hull And Back - (25th December 1985), transmitted on Christmas Day. This series saw the introduction of Albert Trotter after the death of Grandad Trotter. Episodes *Happy Returns (21st February 1985) *Strained Relations (28th February 1985) *Hole In One (7th March 1985) *It's Only Rock and Roll (14th March 1985) *Sleeping Dogs Lie (21st March 1985) *Watching The Girls Go By (28th March 1985) *As One Door Closes (4th April 1985) Christmas Specials *White Mice (24th December 1985) (short episode) *To Hull And Back - (25th December 1985) (feature length episode) Brief Synopsis of Series 5 In Happy Returns, Rodney is dating Debbie Snell and Del meets an old flame, June Snell, Debbie's mother. Del meets June's daughter Debbie. Del says how he and June brok up 19 and a half years ago. Debbie's birthday is approaching. Mickey Pearce says it is Debbie's 19th birthday. Del is shocked as he was dating June at the time Debbie was concieved. Del has to tell Rodney that his girlfriend, who he is totally smitten with, may be his niece. Del says he can see him and Rodney's late mum Joan Mavis Trotter in Debbie and how she short changed Trigger, and Del is a dodgy market trader. June has a shock for Del, Debbie's father was Del's best friend Albie Littlewood. Del says he was dating Albie's bird Deirdre. Del then leaves. In Strained Relations, it is Grandad's funeral. Grandad's brother Albert Trotter attends the funeral, accompanied by relatives Stan Trotter and Jean Trotter. Rodney wonders why Del is laughing and joking at the wake. Del later says he does not know how to grieve. Del drives Albert back to North London but the caravan Stan and Jean owned was gone, leaving no contact info. Del has to take Albert back to the flat but won't let him stay for a few nights. In the end, after persuasion from Rodney, Del allows Albert to stay. In Hole In One, it is the middle of winter. Del is broke. They have not bought or sold a thing for a month apart from selling Mike Fisher a chip fat fryer. A month has passed since Grandad was buried and Del says how he cannot afford the headstone. Albert then falls down the cellar of The Nags Head. Del suggests they sue the brewery on health and safety grounds. Albert is OK but dodgy lawyer Solly Attwell pulls a few strings to help Del recieve a huge payout from the courts. Solly suggests they make out Albert may be mentally scarred from the fall, which he is not. Turns out Albert had many previous lawsuits for falling down holes. The case is thrown out. Albert says he did it for Grandads headstone. Del and Rodney forgive Albert. In It's Only Rock And Roll, Rodney has joined a local band, run by Mental Mickey. del offers to be their manager and organises a gig at the Irish Shamrock Club who hate A Bunch Of Wallies music style. On the night of the gig, a riot ensues. Rodney is thrown out of the band and is agry at Del for messing things up. Del says the band were not destined for Carnegie Hall or The Royal Albert Hall but Sod All. A week later, Del sees A Bunch Of Wallies, minus Rodney, on Top of The Pops. Rodney is angry at Del for saying they would never make it big when they could. Rodney threatens to shove a drumstick up Del's arse. In Sleeping Dogs Lie, Del has offered to look after Boycie's dog Duke for 2 weeks when they are away on holiday. Te dog soon falls ill and is suspected to have food poisoning. Albert had eaten some pork which was given to Duke and ands up in hospital for tests. There is nothing wrong wiht him. Turns out Rodney had mixed up Duke's vitamin tablets with Albert's sleeping pills. Del and Rodney tease Albert saying "Come on boy". In Watching The Girls Go By, Rodney and Mickey place a 50 pence bet for Rodney to bring a girl to an upcoming disco. Del thinks it is a £50 bet. Del tries to arrange a girl for Rodney. At a night club Del pays an old girlfriend, Yvonne "Vonnie" to date Rodney. Rodney finds out and is angry at Del, especialy when Yvonne stripped naked at the disco. Rodney says he won the bet but it was 50 pence not 50 pounds. In As One Door Closes, Synopsis of To Hull And Back Rodney is datng a girl called Imogen. Del is offered a deal by Boycie and Abdul. They will pay him £15'000 to take £50'000 to Amsterdam, Holland and bring 30 diamonds back for them. At the market the next day, Del discusses the deal with Rodney and Del hopes Rodney will be his diversion when they go through customs at the airport due to his minor drugs conviction years earlier. But, Chief Inspector Roy Slater, the most corrupt copper in the area knows that there are diamond smuggling expeditions and knows the first name of the ringleader. He also knows Boycie and Abdul are putting the money up, but he is not sure who the courier is, the one who is bringing the diamonds back in. Slater leaves then Del tells Boycie. Del has a quiet dark place where they can meet one night and discuss the deal, the back of Denzel's lorry. They give Del the address of the ringleader and give him the briefcase with £50'000 in it. Boycie says he will tell Del the combination when he gets to Amsterdam. A tip off from a neighbour reports 3 men breaking into a lorry. Slater, PC Terence Hoskins and PC Parker arrive and scour the site. They see the back of Denzel's lorry is unlocked and look inside. Del is hiding under some canvas. They think it is a dead animal as the lorry smells anyway. Slater locks the back of Denzel's lorry. They find nothing and leave, thinking it is a hoax. Rodney is in the van on watch. Denzel gets into his lorry and drives off, with Del trapped inside. Denzel has the radio on so cannot hear Del. Rodney follows Denzel all the way to Hull, Yorkshire. Denzel parks at a cafe and Rodney lets Del out of the lorry. Del then has an idea when he sees many boats in the boatyard. They will go to Holland by boat. This way Slater won't know anything as he has all the airports covered. Del gets Albert up from Peckham and Del hires a boat. They get sailing but get lost at night in the North Sea. The following day, Del asks an oil rig worker the way to Holland by shouting up to him. They arrive in Holland. The deal goes through very well, Del gets the diamonds from Mr Van Kleefe. After Del leaves, Van Kleefe tells Slater on the phone that Derek Trotter is the courier. Del, Rodney and Albert then set sail back home for England, via Zeebrugge. Boycie and Abdul are happy that the diamonds are good. As they arrived back in Peckham, London, Slater, Hoskins and Parker are staking out The Nags Head. He has them banged to rights but counts the diamonds and says "30. spot on". Slater then says he was behind the diamond smuggling expeditions with Mr Van Kleefe. Slater offers them a deal, he takes the diamonds and money and Del, Rodney, Albert, Boycie and Abdul can go free or he can arrest them and get them banged up for 5 years. Slater then leaves. Hoskins drives him to what Slater thinks is home but he drives into a police trap, saying they knew about his diamond smuggling for a long time but did not catch him in possession until now. Hoskins even has a microphone in the lapel of his coat so the Superintendent can hear every word. Back at the flat, Del believes the money Boycie paid him was counterfeit and throws it out of the 12th floor balcony window. Characters Who Lived Where *Nelson Mandela House, Nyrere Estate, Peckham, London, SE15 - Derek "Del Boy" Trotter, Rodney Trotter, Grandad Trotter (Jan-Feb), Albert Trotter (Feb-rest of year)(tenants) *The Nags Head - Mike Fisher (landlord) Behind The Scenes In early January 1985, the cast and crew returned to production of the 4th series, although it would be hard to carry on after the death of Lennard Pearce before Christmas 1984. John Sullivan had to push one episode, From Prussia With Love to the next series. As him and director Ray Butt did not want the show to begin with a funeral, John wrote Happy Returns, an episode where Derek "Del Boy" Trotter thinks he has a daughter. In the episode, Grandad was referred to as being in hospital. Ray Butt, meanwhile was inundated with letters from actors auditioning for the part of Albert Trotter, the character who was to replace Grandad as the older relative living with Del and Rodney Trotter. Many of the letters were from unknown actors who claimed they knew Lennard Pearce and Ray thought most of the letters were full of waffle. He then opened one letter, from an actor called Buster Merryfield which was not the usual waffle, just straight to the point saying he was a bank manager and had done some theatre. Ray asked to see him and him and John Sullivan thought he was ideal for the part. Buster had a white beard and looked like an old sailor. Buster was given the role as Albert and was costumed up ready for filming. In the second week of January 1985, the location scenes for Hole In One were re-filmed with Buster as Albert. Although not before filming of the scenes for Grandad's funeral were filmed for the episode Strained Relations which was to be the epsiode which saw the introduction of Albert, the estranged brother of Grandad, now living with a nephew in North London. The original lineup for Series 5 was to be:- *Hole In One *From Prussia With Love *It's Only Rock and Roll *Sleeping Dogs Lie *Watching The Girls Go By *As One Door Closes Series and character development this year Prev year Only Fools And Horses in 1984 Next year Only Fools And Horses in 1986 Category:Only Fools And Horses year by year.